Nehemiah 1:1-4

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Nehemiah Prays for His People

1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. In the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa,^{(A) 2} one of my brothers, Hanani, came with certain men from Judah, and I asked them about the Jews who escaped, those who had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. ³ They replied, “The remnant there in the province who escaped captivity are in great trouble and shame; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been destroyed by fire.”^(B)

⁴ When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.^(C)